The invention relates to a gripper weaving machine having a flexible weft inserting or picking band, said picking band being secured at its one end to a driving wheel capable of being driven in an oscillatory fashion and having a gripper head secured to the other end of said picking band for the purpose of inserting weft threads into a shed.
Known picking bands of this kind are made from tempered steel and are naturally relatively heavy and rigid. This rigidity gradually decreases with the duration of time due to the stress that the bands are subjected to during their continual oscillatory movement during weaving. Also, the bands become heated to a relatively considerable extent during operation which also contributes to the reduction in rigidity.
To obviate the heating of steel bands, it has been proposed to replace such bands by bands made of conventional plastics materials; but these bands have not been successfully adopted in actual practice since they have much too little rigidity as compared with steel bands.
The closest prior art known to the applicants in connection with this application is in U.S. Pat. No. 2,604,123.